Illinois
DOJ seeking Illinois voter data to purge suspected noncitizens, documents suggest
Article Summary
- The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Illinois for access to its complete, unredacted voter registration database.
- Documents filed in federal court suggest the agency wants the information so it can purge the names of suspected noncitizens using a federal database that many have criticized for being inaccurate.
- Similar suits have been filed in 29 other states and Washington, D.C. Judges in six states have granted motions to dismiss the suits. No judge has yet ruled in favor of DOJ’s request.
This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
SPRINGFIELD — The Trump administration’s lawsuits seeking access to sensitive voter registration data in Illinois and dozens of other states is one part of a broader effort to purge state voter rolls of suspected noncitizens, according to documents filed recently in federal court in Springfield.
Those documents were filed Thursday, April 30, by attorneys representing the Illinois AFL-CIO and other groups that have intervened in the case seeking to prevent the Department of Justice from obtaining the information. They say it proves the agency’s stated reasons for seeking the data — to determine whether Illinois is complying with voter list maintenance requirements — is only a pretext and the agency’s suit against the state should be dismissed.
Read the filing
Several former DOJ attorneys who have worked in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division filed an amicus brief in the case in March, arguing the agency has no statutory authority to seek the information to conduct its own list maintenance program or to identify noncitizens.
The new documents filed Thursday include internal DOJ emails that the attorneys say were made available “in response to a public records request lawsuit.”
One of those was a June 16, 2025, email from Michael Gates, who was then a deputy assistant attorney general in DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, to his superior, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees that division. In that email, Gates states that the division is seeking access to the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, database.
“This will be helpful to us because it will allow us to compare this SAVE database against states’ voter rolls, which we will get directly from states under the (National Voter Registration Act),” Gates wrote.
The next month, on July 28, DOJ sent its first letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections seeking access to Illinois’ complete, unredacted statewide voter registration list, indicating that it was part of DOJ’s efforts to enforce voter list maintenance provisions of NVRA. The letter was signed by Gates. It also bore the name of Maureen Riordan, acting chief of the Voting Section within the Civil Rights Division.
Gates has since left the Justice Department. He is currently a Republican candidate for California attorney general in that state’s upcoming June 2 primary.
SAVE database
The SAVE database was originally set up to help states verify the citizenship and immigration status of people applying for public benefits such as Medicaid and SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Some states also use it to verify people’s eligibility to vote.
But the program has also been the target of criticism because of its tendency to misidentify people as noncitizens due to its use of incomplete or inaccurate data.
On April 21, the watchdog groups Common Cause and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, filed a lawsuit against DOJ in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleging the agency wants to use state voter registration lists and the SAVE database to conduct what they call “a sprawling new voter surveillance and purging apparatus that endangers millions of Americans’ fundamental voting and privacy rights.”
A second document filed last week in the Illinois case is a Nov. 18, 2025, email from the acting chief of the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section, Eric Neff, that appears to suggest how the agency should conceal its intentions when asked why it is seeking states’ voter registration databases.
“I believe our reply should always be: ‘We will use the data in a manner consistent with Federal law’ and say nothing more,” Neff wrote to fellow DOJ lawyers Jesus Osete and Matt Zandi. He also said of the Help America Vote Act, the Civil Rights Act and NVRA, “none of them require (us) to give the states information about what we are going to do with the data. No judge will have authority to limit us beyond a promise of Federal law compliance.”
Illinois lawsuit
Illinois has refused to hand over an unredacted voter registration list. Instead, it has provided DOJ with electronic copies of partially redacted files that do not include sensitive information such as dates of birth, driver’s license numbers or partial Social Security numbers.
In December, DOJ filed suit in the Central District of Illinois seeking access to the unredacted files. It also filed similar suits in 29 other states and Washington, D.C.
The Illinois AFL-CIO, Common Cause several and other groups have intervened as codefendants in the case.
Attorneys for the state and the intervening parties have filed motions to dismiss the DOJ lawsuit. Judge Colleen Lawless has not yet ruled on the motion. Similar suits have already been dismissed in six other states. No court has yet ruled in favor of DOJ’s request for access to the unredacted voter files.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
Illinois
Stark County relay wins state title, leading Western Illinois girls track results
The IHSA state girls track meet was held Thursday through Saturday, May 21-23, at Eastern Illinois University, with championships handed out on the final day of the meet in all three classes of competition.
Several schools in Western Illinois had strong finishes to the season, and the Stark County 4×800-meter relay leads the way back with a first-place finish.
The Rebels had the top time in the preliminaries and backed that up with a rally in the final leg to win the Class 1A title. Anchor leg Dusti Smith ran an eye-popping 2:10.44 over the final two laps to give Stark County the title. Her split was by far the fastest of anyone in the field, nearly five seconds better than the last leg of Shelbyville’s Tessa Bowers, whose team finished third.
Several other athletes had runner-up finishes, and Galesburg High placed in three relays.
In 1A, Sherrard had the area’s best team score, finishing seventh with 26 points. Galesburg got 17 points in 2A to tie for 17th place.
Here’s a look at all the top 10s for Western Illinois, including notes on season best (SB) and personal best (PB) times, noted by athletic.net.
Class 1A local results
800
6. Cheyenh Smith, Sr., Stark County, 2:16.79
7. Emily Downing, Sr., Ridgewood, 2:17.86 (SB)
8. Anna Churchill, Jr., Sherrard, 2:18.33 (PB)
1600
7. Dusti Smith, Jr., Stark County, 5:04.70
10. Emily Downing, Sr., Ridgewood, 5:08.03 (SB)
3200
3. Emily King, Sr., Knoxville, 10:59.20 (PB)
8. Jana Vande Kemp, Jr., Ridgewood, 11:12.81 (PB)
10. Alyssa Higgins, Sr., Knoxville, 11:17.71 (PB)
100 Hurdles
5. Marryn Ferguson, Fr., Bushnell-Prairie City, 15.40
300 Hurdles
7. Alayna Mitchell, Jr., Mercer County, 45.58 (PB)
4×400 Relay
6. Sherrard, 4:06.34 (Cami Anderson, Sophia Bradarich, Piper Russell, Anna Churchill)
4×800 Relay
1. Stark County, 9:24.77 (Cheyenh Smith, Norah Rorem, Paytin Terwilliger, Dusti Smith)
6. Mercer County, 9:47.26 (Emalyn Millar, Brookelyn Clark, Jorgi Arnold, Helen Baldwin)
10. Ridgewood, 9:57.64 (Jolene Blackert, Hannah Ames, Jana Vande Kemp, Emily Downing)
Discus
2. Saidie Shemek, Sr., Sherrard, 40.73m
4. Ellie Doubet, Sr., Ridgewood, 40.36m (PB)
Pole Vault
2. Aliza Dominique, Sr., Sherrard, 3.30m (SB)
T5. Marryn Ferguson, Fr., Bushnell-Prairie City, 3.20m (PB)
T5. Khloe Kunz, Fr., Sherrard, 3.20m (PB)
Long Jump
10. Grace Grothaus, Jr., West Hancock, 5.09m
Triple Jump
2. Grace Grothaus, Jr., West Hancock, 11.14m
Class 2A Local Results
3200
8. Brooklyn Smith, Jr., Geneseo, 11:06.88
4×100 Relay
7. Galesburg, 49.06 (Ella Herchenroder, Rachelle McCellan, Taylor Herchenroder, Ava Marty)
4×200 Relay
4. Galesburg, 1:41.47 (Ella Herchenroder, Rachelle McCellan, Taylor Herchenroder, Ava Marty)
4×400 Relay
3. Galesburg, 3:57.73 (Ella Herchenroder, Grace Herchenroder, Taylor Herchenroder, Lily Furrow)
Shot Put
5. Makaylynne Correa, Sr., Canton, 11.72m (PB)
8. Isabella Brown, Jr., Geneseo, 11.53m
Discus
7. Dakota Thorman, Sr., Macomb, 36.97m
High Jump
4. Aubrey Holthaus, Jr., Macomb, 1.55m
Pole Vault
7. Allison Tice, Fr., Geneseo, 3.45m (PB)
Illinois
Body pulled from suburban pond ID’d as Army veteran who vanished decades ago, officials say
HODGKINS, Ill. (WLS) — The body found in a car that was pulled from a pond in the southwest suburbs has been identified as a missing Army veteran.
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Cook County officials confirmed the remains are those of John Pisano, an Army veteran and father who vanished in 2001 at the age of 39.
The discovery was made in Sept. 2025 near Joliet Road and East Avenue in Hodgkins, Illinois.
A scuba diving team that investigates cold cases made the discovery, while investigating a separate missing person’s case, police said.
SEE ALSO | ‘Chaos Divers’ have helped solve nearly 2 dozen cold cases nationwide, including several in Illinois
The vehicle was a 1998 Lincoln Town Car, police said.
Officials confirmed the vehicle was linked to a missing persons report filed over 25 years ago.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Body, car pulled from pond in Hodgkins linked to 2001 missing person’s case, officials say
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Illinois
Ameren Illinois lineworkers advance to Internal Lineman’s Rodeo
Ameren Illinois lineworkers are headed back to the world stage. The company says five journeyman teams and four apprentices have qualified for the 2026 International Lineman’s Rodeo after strong performances at a recent play‑in event at the Decatur Training Center.
The Rodeo, held in Bonner Springs, Kansas, brings together top lineworkers from around the world to compete in high‑precision events focused on safety and technical skill.
The Ameren Illinois journeyman teams advancing include:
Brian Courtwright’s team from Decatur and Marion
Clint Dasenbrock’s team from Effingham and Mattoon
Apprentices representing Ameren Illinois include:
Caleb Brune, Centralia
The 2026 International Lineman’s Rodeo takes place in October and features events such as the hurtman rescue, pole climb and a series of mystery challenges. Competitors are judged on safety, technique and efficiency — the same standards they face on the job every day.
Apprentices also complete a written exam to demonstrate their technical knowledge and readiness for advancement.
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